Radical hospitality is a theme of both the lesson from
Hebrews and Jesus’ parable of the banquet in Luke. Find creative ways to build
your service around these images!
Consider a Communion celebration: set a festive table at the front of
the sanctuary and invite the congregants to find a place; leave a place open
for “angels” to be entertained. Organize an agape feast as worship, and
celebrate it in the context of a potluck picnic in a local park. Invite people to bring food to donate to
the food pantry. Celebrate all the ways that God fills our lives with good
things and calls us to share the bounty with others.

Call to Worship(Based on Psalm 81)

Sing aloud to God our strength and shout with joy:

God, our Host, welcomes
us.

God reminds us,

“I
brought you out of the land of Egypt
and fed you along the way:”

When we
opened our mouths, God filled us with good things.

God calls us to walk the path of faithfulness, trusting
the promise:

a feast for
all--

freshly-baked
bread, hot from the oven,

and sweet
honey to satisfy our hunger.

Let us
worship God!

Invocation

Hospitable
God, you invite us to a banquet

where the
last may be first,

and the
humble and the mighty trade places.

Let us
share your abundance with no fear of scarcity;

let us
greet strangers as angels you have sent!

Send your
Spirit now

so that we
may find a place at your table

and
welcome others with radical hospitality.

In the
name of Jesus, Guest at all our tables, we pray. Amen.

Confession and
Assurance of Pardon(Based on Jeremiah 2)

Dear God, we have known
you since the time

you led our ancestors from bondage to freedom.

We have found no fault in your promise.

Yet we wander from the path that you have set and

put our faith in other “gods”

which lead us away from justice, compassion and
hospitality.

We forsake your
blessing.

Forgive
our faithlessness and our arrogance.

Restore us
to right relationship with you and all those in our midst.

God is merciful and slow to anger.

God seeks the lost and extends the invitation again and
again.

God welcomes us when we turn to God.

Friends, believe the Good News of the Gospel,

In Jesus Christ,
we are forgiven.

Call
to Offering and Dedication

As God has welcomed us,

let us extend God’s blessings by sharing our tithes and
offerings

in support of Christ’s ministry today.

Dear God,
you have offered us a place at the table

and you
have called us to share without expectation of being repaid.

You have
called us to make a place for the poor,

the
outcast and the oppressed.

So we ask
that you bless these resources

so that
they might support ministries of compassion and justice

until all
of your children have a place at the table. Amen.

Benediction

As you have feasted at the table at God’s invitation,

go into the world renewed and restored.

Go into the world to share to Good News

that there is a place for everyone at God’s banquet
table.

Go into the world to share God’s bounty. Amen.

Look Who’s Invited! Service
Prayers for the Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, was written by the Rev.
Christopher Ney, Pastor of Central Congregational Church, UCC, of Newburyport,
MA.

Copyright 2010 Local Church Ministries,
Congregational Vitality and Discipleship Ministry Team, United Church
of Christ,
700 Prospect Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44115-1100. Permission granted to reproduce or adapt this
material for use in services of worship or church education. All publishing rights reserved.